Saturday, June 29, 2013

MARKENDEYA

He held onto me, shivering in fear,
clutching at my body ,burning with fear....


I held on too, staring death in the eye,
trying to will myself away from looking at the precipice below....

Rushing past us were fresh dead bodies,floating on the tears of the mighty ganges,
entire houses swept away as if the gods swept away their toys in one swift non chalant swing

None of my family survived the landslide,
the entire earth that stood caved upon my life sucking my family and a hundred others...

wild stock, children old aged sufferers all taken
on their last journey towards destiny's final chapter


I held onto him , my son as the only symbol of hope,
clutching and gnawing at the earth and making higher ground,
slowly and slowly I let my tears far away, crying silently....

With just a biscuit for food, a hungry petrified son,
roaring angry Ganga , falling boulders and the prospect of meeting YAMA
 I hung on hoping against hope that we could survive

for three days I slept on the cold floor, at the feet of the lord himself
spending all my energy on prayer,my son and survival....

I wished I had died too, but the presence of my son was my only source of strength

The ganges rose teasingly, tantalisingly close,
like a snake moving in for its kill,
I sat there now counting my seconds to death....

I could only hope
my son would survive,


His name was MARKANDEYA ,
the one who cheated death....


 

her eyes.....

she had beautiful eyes, blue lively ,
she could hold your attention for a while....
but behind the smoky screen of mist,
her eyes hold a dark secret, a shadow of youth...

her eyes shone now in a distant dream.....


she ran around her mother like a lost pup...
tugging at her feeling eternal bliss...
tickling her brothers in sleep...
running after her horses ,singing her songs,dancing around with her father

with a shudder she woke up from her deep reverie,
her world shattered , torn apart and blown away....

her brothers, mother and father,
her farm , her horses and her shadow of happiness all evaporated in a second of war

a tear in her eye is all that speaks silently in agony...

she is sheltered in a refugee camp, given a tag named 7069
she is just another number in the sea of lost souls...

she drags herself away into the quietest corner and stares at the dark skies 
hoping that another bomb will strike and kill her too....

The three hundred






Our swords held high we arrived on the vast plains of barren land, soon to be fertile with our challenger’s blood…
Every gain of sand stood in anticipation, for its share of bounty, the army arrived in thousands, we were just a bunch of three hundred…

For twenty days our battle raged on…with each fallen brother we fought with more vigour, swinging our blades, slashing their hearts
The dead piled in columns of havoc, thunderous swords of our s now in hundreds we survived….

Their  army driven away, we had saved our land…

We were heroes in our land…but murderers in the land of our enemies…
A hundred years later too, our war shall be spoken of…
Thirty thousand against the hundreds bloodhounds…
But I still stood there on the vast plains of rotting plunder,
When the sun went down that night a few lanterns still burnt in my  tent…

The fragrance of blood on my hands could never perish …
I had killed…..

I may have killed thousands, destroyed their hopes of returning home
Crippled a few hundred bravehearts, carrying with them the fearless notion of our brothers
In a few days a fresh legion shall arrive,
May be then I would join my brothers in heaven or send the opponents to their destiny in heaven…
For they were warriors too, some feared, some barbaric , some relentless….

To all that have died under my swing, to the lord I ask one thing and one thing alone,
May all their souls rest in peace….

HEART BEAT

However much i chide myself ,
I simply cannot stop to look at you...

I shall only look at thee and smile as if my life's greatest
treasure arrived from heaven..

   But I look away as soon as your gaze turns towards me...
  in an instant I flee, 
  all the while playing with the instant thou rolled your eyes and looked at me...

my legs turn to wood, 
my heart in all its thunder shouts your name,
my tongue tied with an invisible chain,
 all the beautifully remembered words of introduction simply fall over....

What do i do senorita???

The words at the tip of my tongue fight to be the first to magically embrace your ears,
the lines of poetry sit perplexed in awe,lost for words describing you

I look like a joker afraid of his first comic act in front of a thousand strong crowd....

I look again to find you gone ,
 my tongue finds itself rid of its chains,my legs now ache to bolt to see you just one more time....

words of poetry begin to flow and i get lost in the seas of bliss


-Pungidasa

THE PEPPER SPRAY

A dark silhouette moved effortlessly along
the carpet of shadows of the night...
Perched on top a building, maintaining vigil

A lone woman walked by and its eyes followed her,
through the dark alley,
swiftly it swung to action,
leaping in bounds of joy,
whistling its luck, thanking its stars....


A lonely patch of road, surrounded on either side by dense ambush ,like a hunter it lay in wait
crouched and hungry
letting time pass its mark until she arrived blissfully unaware into the trap destiny laid

A big dark leopard,
silent as death,shining in the moonlight.
it lunged and caught her throat in a moment of triumph

She fought the monster , flailing her hands wailing for help,
the more she wailed , the quicker the teeth dug into her throat

With one stroke of evil genius and a roar of victory,
he killed her,
and devoured her small little heart into his thundering stomach...

all that was left of her was her handbag with a bottle of pepper spray....


THE REAL QUESTION....???

There are some who take years to understand,
        There are a few who can read the train of your thoughts instantly....

There are many who simply nod their heads, 
       while a very few actually listen....

There are many with whom we can have long conversations,
          while very few can endure your silence....

There are many who shall ask for help ,
      but a only a few ever honour gratitude...

There are many who shall smile looking at you,
      very few can bring you a smile...

There are many who shall follow you in success,
      only a few shall lead you through times of failure...

There are many who pretend to be impressed by your good nature,
   but only a few who love you despite your faults....


But the question remains ,
among which few are you???
 
 

THE ELUSIVE VISITOR



Seeing her in the present day scenario would be equivalent to
Finding UFO’s landing in lalbagh.!!

THE word was out that she was somewhere in our neighborhood,
Away from all the glare and flair, silently enjoying her Sunday retreat!!

A few days ago a friend of mine claimed to have sighted her,
speedily crossing a busy junction, undetected by the busy hawkers on the highway...
A few other passerby had also voiced, my friend’s words to be true ...

I considered this to be the classic case of a curved stick
considered to be a snake by the urban folk...

Well destiny has quite a way of pulling a fast one on you...
It was not until I saw her majestically occupying the crown of the chair in my veranda,
 I truly believed in her presence...

Gleaming in the sunlight like a diamond,
Silent as death she sat basking in glory...

With her hood fully raised,
Her HISSSS…. growing louder each minute,
she looked at me furious to have disturbed her rendezvous…

I stood transfixed at the spot, as if struck by lightning...
A big coiled cobra had decided to give my house a pleasant visit...

Frozen , I only managed to stay still,
As quickly as she s arrived she left
silently slithering away…

I wished how I could have asked her to stay,
And have a cuppa and click a few pictures of her elegance..!!




OH LIL' HEART

Oh little heart, do not fear !!
For I’m there by your side protecting thee like my sons

Oh little heart do not fret thee eyebrows in anxiety,
I may fall a few times,
 the thought of your anxious feelings makes me stronger n makes me smile..

Lil heart I’m thee friend even in death,
Do not fear,
even destiny cant pull us away from each other..

Go on sing your songs of love peace and freedom
I’m wit thee forever !!
Go on kid dance on the roads, roll on the floor in joy ,
run like the wind waving your arms in joy !!
Do not fear little heart I’m here wit thee forever

THE UNIVERSE IN MY ARMS.....




To me thou were the universe,
Silently hugging my very presence,
Your warm breath on my heart, a reminder of heaven
The cold wind blowing, your jet black hair sweeping my face with ecstacy,
The stars on the velvet sky twinkling at you...

While you gently sleep on my shoulder,
Sucking yr thumb,
In peace with the world around you
Cuddled up in my arms, a part of my universe, blissfully unaware..

I smile again looking at you in the moonlight,
Your soft little nose shining like a mountain of gold,
Your eyes closed in content,
Your breath celebrating my presence...
I look up at the starry night, and smile
Thanking the universe to have gifted a part of his soul to me...

As thou soundly sleep on my shoulder I gently kiss your forehead and put you to sleep…